Role of Reason and Emotion in Personality Development: An Analysis of Characters in Macbeth

This paper deals with the study of the role of faculties of mind i.e. reason and emotion in the development of personality of various characters in Macbeth. William Shakespeare, a keen analyst of human psyche, penetrates into the very psyche of his characters and owing to his superb dramatic acumen reveals their intentions through various stylistic devices like dialogues, soliloquies and asides etc. The dramatist seems to suggest that a proper combination of both reason and emotion is necessary for a mature and balanced development of personality. Some characters in the play, who are solely driven by reason, having no concern for emotions, turn out to be rigid and sinister kinds of personalities; whereas, those who are very emotional at heart turn out to be gullible and naïve ones. The mature, flexible and successful characters are those who are able to judge the situation with reasoning and make decisions after evaluating all the pros and cons of ethics, morality and human emotions also. Those, who are able to maintain equilibrium, become wise and successful during the course of their journey. In contrast, those who stick to the rigidity of their perspective fail to comprehend the situation and compromise in their lives and become victims in one way or the other.